NFL bringin its 'Big D' to Dallas' house

April 26-28 draft will be the first league has ever staged in a stadium.

Big D is about to stand for something other than Dallas.

The NFL is bringing its Big D — the draft — to Jerry Jones’ palace. This draft, the first in a stadium, will pay homage in so many ways to the cliche that everything is bigger in Texas.

Ever since the league decided to put the draft up for bids and move it around the country, the focus has been to make it grow even larger than the cottage industry it has become.

From an historic theater setting in Chicago, with Grant Park as the backdrop, to the front yard of the iconic Philadelphia Art Museum with the Rocky statue atop its steps, the picks have become an accompaniment to the surroundings as much as a process in team building.

Now, the draft enters a building that can hold 100,000 people, though capacity has been set at 20,000 inside for the April 26-28 proceedings.

Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s senior vice president

ALLISON V. SMITH / THE NEW YORK TIMES 2015 The Dallas Cowboys’ field as seen from the owner’s suite at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Dec. 18, 2015. On April 26-28, it will host the NFL draft.